Eisenkrone Academy

Season 3 episode 39 notes

(At some point prior to all this: Cecil bumps into Mikhail, who asks his advice about how to get frisky with Rei. Cecil refuses to advice him. When Mikhail says he’ll use MANPANTHER, Cecil threatens that anyone who uses that perfume around his friends will “taste my lance.”)

~

Cecil reveals to Hildegard that Heidi has blackmail material on her. Hildegard is shocked and asks what it is. Cecil doesn’t know, but says he will endeavor to find out. Hildegard agrees to a meeting, but is wary since she knows Heidi will be on her guard.

Cecil attempts to meet with Heidi again, and summons Violet to know where she is. Violet tells him that he can ask Anita, who’s invited him to dinner – and please come incognito. Cecil heads up to speak with Anita, not bothering with being subtle in the slightest.

Lloyd, meanwhile, heads to the Military History Club. He bumps into Mikhail on the way. Mikhail asks what to do if someone threatens you – is it best to stand up for yourself, or to hide? Lloyd encourages him to be brave, and Mikhails’ courage is redoubled. He gives Lloyd the first fresh copy of the school newspaper, which he almost canceled…

Lloyd means Gabriel in the Military History Club, who is there with the Lovejoy twins for another one of their tea parties. Gabriel hurries off to make more tea for Lloyd, who gets in a few words with the twins. They suggest, as thanks for helping their father, that they help paint his portrait for the Student Council Elections. Lloyd heartily thanks them.

Gabriel returns, with an invitation to Lloyd from Anita, saying to meet her in the Frankish restaurant – incognito. Lloyd disguises himself as a mustachioed Rus named Lloydski.

~

Cecil and Lloydski convene in the restaurant, to meet Anita, who is undercover in a scarf and dark glasses. The maids set up a private conversation and guards them. Anita explains that she needs more information about Hattori Hanzo, and asks Lloyd and Cecil if they can provide anything.

Lloyd, who is familiar with the heroic tales of Hattori Hanzo, begins to recount what he knows about him from legend. Cecil, hearing the stories for the first time, spots a strange pattern – while Hanzo was working for a mysterious old daimyo toward the end of his career, all his apprentices died. All his apprentices except one – Naimitsu. This is well disguised in the stories, since the chronology is so muddled.

Lloyd, Cecil and Anita speculate about what this might mean. Cecil, meanwhile, telepathically asks Anita to arrange a meeting with Heidi, which she sets up promptly, sending a maid to ask Heidi.

Anita thanks Lloyd and Cecil for all the help, and asks them to please help her find out why Shigeru commands such a powerful ninja. She pays for their meal, and Cecil is about to leave. Lloyd, however, stays behind to enjoy a last cup of coffee and Mikhail’s newspaper.

Lloyd reads that Cecil has threatened everyone who uses MANPANTHER with violence. He is shocked and appalled and asks Cecil if this is true. Cecil admits that it is… kinda.

Lloyd and Cecil have a Serious Conversation about ethics and moral character, before Cecil goes off to meet with Heidi.

~

Lloyd heads down to the Military History Club, but runs into Shigeru, who’s emerging from the dark. Shigeru asks Lloyd to let him install a spy in the Military History Club to watch over Mashiro – let Juan take care of her, because Ryoko and Mashiro are clearly incompetent. Shigeru is not satisfied with them being merely “demoted” to Mashiro’s maids.

Lloyd tells Shigeru that this is not an acceptable proposition. Mashiro must be allowed to choose for herself. Shigeru warns Lloyd that the Tokugawa might try to kidnap her, to use her as a bargaining chip against him – seeing as he’s the future leader of Clan Kyoka.

Lloyd says this is regrettable, but he will defend Mashiro’s right to choose a club for herself. Shigeru, menacingly, says that then he will have no choice but to destroy the Military History Club.

Lloyd heads back to the Club, and goes to bed.

~

Cecil gets summoned by the postal bugle. There’s letters for the Principal, as well as two letters for himself. One is to be opened at midnight only, and is from Mr. Fried. The other is from Heidi, setting up a meeting.

Cecil delivers the letter to the Principal, who is impressed by its contents, detailing the adventures of some Eisenkrone students away on an exchange year.

Cecil meets Heidi in the dungeons. He asks her to meet with Hildegard, and she agrees – but only if Hildegard comes unarmored. Heidi is well aware of her tutelage by Hoffmeister and the armor-based powers that he taught her. They will meet in the Black Swan restaurant, at eight o clock tomorrow evening.

Cecil asks what kind of blackmail info Heidi has. Since Cecil is such a swell guy, Heidi informs him: Hildegard didn’t get her position by merit. Hoffmeister bribed people in high positions to help her get the job. Hildegard probably doesn’t know this herself.

Cecil heads out to meet with Hildegard in the guard station. When he tells her about the blackmail, Hildegard is heartbroken. She thought she was finally free of Hoffmeister’s influence, and she’s so distraught that she threatens to resign. Cecil calms her and tells her to do the meeting with Heidi first.

Hildegard rails against corruption – the law is the law. But she does have a duty to catch and interrogate Heidi. if Heidi is as innocent as she says, she should work with the law, not against it.

Cecil goes to see Professor Gottlieb, in his room late at night. He asks Gottlieb if he would support Hildegard even if evidence of her corruption came to light. Gottlieb says that she’s good at what she does, and that it’s a shame for such a good cop to get thrown out on her ass.

Cecil heads to bed, forgetting about the letter from Mr. Fried. He’ll read it in the morning.

~

Lloyd and Cecil wake in the morning to go have History class. Lloyd is woken by Sophie, who’s gotten used to his early habits. Cecil is woken by his alarm clock, and Wilhelmina is nowhere in sight. She might have overslept.

Lloyd and Cecil head out for breakfast, lovingly prepared by Sophie in the Latinian style, with hot bread and hot, super strong espresso coffee. Naimitsu is taking breakfast with her daughters, beaming and being happy.

Haruhi and Ryoko drink the Latinian coffee, becoming dangerously hyperactive due to their small body mass. Haruhi zings around the room like a comet. Cecil tries to catch her, but she delivers a Haruhi-kick to his face.

Wilhelmina bursts in, half-dressed, embarrassed about having overslept. She was exhausted after following Cecil everywhere yesterday. Cecil tells her to relax today, but she swears to remain a strong and faithful servant.

Cecil reads his letter from Mr. Fried, learning that he’s now the janitor, due to Lloyd’s recommendation. Lloyd is happy to have helped. Resigned, Cecil goes to be initiated as janitor.

Cecil heads to the mysterious janitor’s office, manned by a mysterious nameless old man called Tim. Tim hands Cecil the keys to the school – every door except a handful, like the Danger Room, the Principal’s office, and similarly sensitive areas. Cecil does learn, however, that with the keys he can enter students’ private quarters, locker rooms, and basically a lot of other off-limits places. Do not do this without good reason.

They keys are placed on the One Keyring. It pulsates in Cecil’s hand and seems to whisper to him. The Ring wants to be found. The Ring wants to be used.

Cecil meets the staff of nameless ronin maids who have joined the Janitorial Staff. They are silent, invisible, and utterly loyal to the school.

Cecil goes to class, joining Lloyd. As he touches the door to the history classroom, he gets a brief glimpse of the room’s purpose and schedule, whispered to him by the One Keyring. He is lectured by Schröder about the importance of the keys.

~

Schröder begins a new theme in history – Scandia! But first, he must introduce Teutonia’s first line of defense against the storm-blasted country in the North: Castle Elsinore, the black castle on the shores of the Daneland. Elsinore has a strange tie to Eisenkrone; not only is it partially built from the same mysterious black umbrite that Eisenkrone is – it also has an exchange student programme with the school.

Schröder explains that students in their fourth or fifth year can take an exchange year manning the bitter palisades of Elsinore in defense against the monsters that rise out of the Kattegat, as well as the Storms that blow in from southern Scandia, and the terrifying Storm Viking raiders that live there. This is very educational, at least for more martially-inclined Knights.

Schröder makes oblique references to how the students who were there during Lloyd and Cecil’s first year at Eisenkrone should be on their way back now.

Schröder tells magnificent stories of various Storm Knights who have manned Castle Elsinore. He gives his students as homework to find out more about the history of the place, and perhaps interview someone who’s been there – or, for extra bonus points, someone who’s crossed the Kattegat. Presumably this will result in an essay.

Lloyd and Cecil head for their next class – Storm Lore in the Danger Room.

Professor Anderson welcomes the gang, he has just resumed teaching Storm Lore again, taking over from Professor Wolf. The first lesson will be on defending items from the Storm, as Storms can melt or destroy ones’ possessions. The best way to do this is to develop intimate familiarity with the item – so strong that it’s almost written upon ones’ very character (sheet).

Anderson hands out random items from a sack. The homework for next week is to build up an attachment to this item, and try to protect it from a small, localized Storm conjured by the Danger Room. Cecil ends up with a teddy bear, which he names Mr. Snookums. Lloyd gets a woman’s shoe. Jacob gets a crucifix. Mashiro, a math book. And so on. The items are from the lost and found in the teachers’ lounge.

Anderson asks if any student would like to try defending a possession of theirs – it’s voluntary, but many in the class wish to show their ability to protect things. He fires up a small Storm Energy generator. Cecil goes first.

Cecil successfully defends his Fighting Trousers from the Storm. Similarly, Mashiro’s crucifix and Sanchez’s mask go unharmed, being so important to them that the Storm cannot harm them.

Günther, wanting to prove himself macho, tries to build up an attachment to his MANPANTHER perfume. It backfires spectacularly, transforming the perfume into weird, buoyant mist that lifts Günther to the ceiling as soon as he steps into the Storm field. As Anderson laments that liquids and gases really aren’t suitable for this sort of thing, he tries to change the settings. Somehow, Günther ends up stuck glued to the ceiling. He cockily explains that he meant for this to happen, totally.

Anderson ends the class early, trying to figure out how to get Günther down.

Lloyd and Cecil go for lunch.

~

Cecil meets Nina and Aurora over lunch. They have made friends again (and lovers, but only Cecil knows about that), but have to keep it secret from the Dueling Club since Parsifal disapproves of them knowing each other.

Aurora mentions how sweet it was for Nina to send her an anonymous gift. Nina panics a bit, having done no such thing. She asks Aurora what it was, and learns it was a Nipponese-style painting.

Cecil learns that Aurora wears the PUSSYCATGOLD perfume. He takes Aurora aside and basically threatens her, telling her not to use it. Aurora recalls Cecil’s challenge to Mikhail and asks if he wants to duel her. He says no. Aurora says he should probably apologize to Parsifal then – Parsifal is the one handing out the perfumes like candy to his allies, and he might have been offended by Cecil’s declaration that he will hurt anyone who uses them.

Cecil is worried about the mysterious gift, and promises Nina he will learn more about it. He fears it might mean bad news.

Cecil heads up to Parsifal to apologize. Parsifal is having lunch, and is very menacing, but he promises Cecil he will hold off his thugs, since Cecil was so civil about it.

Cecil meets Shigeru in the Dueling Club cafeteria, and briefly speaks to him about Mashiro. Shigeru repeats that Mashiro might be in danger from kidnappers. Cecil counters that maybe he should join the Military History Club himself, instead of sending stooges. Shigeru ponders.

Cecil learns from Reginald that a Nipponese painter was behind the painting sent to Aurora. Possibly Shigeru.

~

Lloyd and Cecil head for their last class for the day – Strategy and Mathematics, respectively.

In Strategy class, Lloyd is paired up with Princess Sophia Charlotte. As is customary in Strategy introduction for first years, the first years are to make a strategy, and the second years must try to predict it. The scenario is to defend the siege of a fortress, impossibly overwhelmed.

Lloyd interviews the Princess and learns that she thinks he’s a glory hound who manipulates other people for his own benefit, to look good and heroic.

The Princess herself is cool and resigned, unhappy with her position as part of high politics where everyone is untrue. Lloyd accurately predicts that her strategy will be to surrender the fortress.

Cecil, meanwhile, has a class on John Malthus, led by Clara Weimar who is standing in for Professor Leibniz today. Clara builds a model proving the inevitability of war based on resource scarcity. Based on this, she says, Teutonia must go to war sooner rather than later, as it is now it is the strongest. Cecil disagrees, saying it’s too unpredictable. He tries to make a Marxist model, sharing resources more equally – Clara agrees it’s elegant, but wouldn’t work in practice.

Amanda comes up with a solution of absolute fascism, that at least mathematically-theoretically, should work indefinitely because it perfectly micromanages all resources. Clara praises this solution – but just like Cecil’s it’s a pipe dream. It would take a super strong mindbender dictator to make it work. Like Amanda’s boyfriend, Kage…

~

Leaving class, Cecil bumps into Zelenka, who admits that maybe, just maybe, he can see the benefit of siding with Lloyd over Parsifal. Maybe he won’t make more MANPANTHER. Just then, a carriage rolls into Eisenkrone, and Cecil bumps into Lloyd.

Lloyd and Cecil watch the carriage roll in, being greeted by the Principal and a whole host of older students. It’s the exchange students, returning from Elsinore.

Cecil and Lloyd learn who they are from older students and the Principal. There’s Erich von Donner, a great war hero who defeated the Eye of a Storm in Polonia – the youngest student to do so except Lloyd. There’s Janos Adamski, a very smart young boy with a spear-hook and gravity-manipulating powers. There’s Marissa de Ville, a demure shy girl who seems to have changed a lot by her trip to the North. And finally, Dieter von Bülow, a short, fat boy with a speech impediment, who nevertheless is a great writer and poet. There’s also a few other, as yet unnamed exchange students.

Erich holds a brief speech to his friends, humblebragging about his and his friends’ efforts in Elsinore and Polonia, as well as how they attended the Kaiser’s crowning and that’s why they’re late returning to the school.

Lloyd heads to have his portrait painted, while Cecil wanders off to pass time until his dinner-date with Hildegard and Heidi.

~

Lloyd and Mashiro spend some time with Samuel and Samantha in the Gardening Club. Reginald is also there, pleasantly talking to the Lovejoys – at first.

Reginald mentions that he has no portrait for his Student Council President posters. It’s quite nice of the Lovejoys to make one for Lloyd. Then he gets called away by Parsifal.

Shortly thereafter, Reginald returns with barely contained rage. He informs the Lovejoys that they must stop “pestering” him to join the Arts Club, or he will be forced to duel them. Parsifal watches, and Reginald makes it clear that he’s saying this under duress. He’s extremely unhappy. Reginald and Parsifal leave.

Samuel and Samantha reveal that Reginald had just invited them to the club only moments earlier. Samantha also reveals that she’s a mindbender, and that she overheard some of Reginalds’ thoughts. Parsifal forced him to do this.

Troubled by this, Lloyd thinks on how to help his friends, and unwittingly strikes a heroic pose. Samuel and Samantha hurriedly begin to paint him, in tandem.

As the sketch stage is finished, Marissa de Ville swings by. She maniacally interviews Lloyd on his friends and his interests, declaring that she likes him and finds him interesting, but seemingly in the same way a cat might find a toy interesting. She similarly creepily asks Mashiro what she likes. With a lunatic grin, she takes off to find more friends.

Lloyd asks Samuel and Samantha to borrow a canvas and some paint. They freely let him – they have a large supply from their Frankish uncle, Jean-Baptiste Lovejoy.

Lloyd returns to his room. His brow is furrowed. It isn’t right that Reginald shouldn’t have a portrait. With this in mind, Lloyd begins to sketch, using his perfect recall of faces and names in place of a model…

~

Cecil runs into Janos Adamski, who introduces himself and psychoanalyses Cecil based on his personality, patterns of conversation, and the shape of his skull. He claims to know a lot about “his kind” – Mindbenders – and admires their intelligence while at the same time considering them vaguely autistic. Cecil gets along well enough with him in spite of the veiled insults.

Just before eight o clock, Cecil meets Hildegard who is wearing her pretty dress that Lloyd taught her how to wear, a year ago. Since it’s a fancy restaurant, she doesn’t want to be underdressed, even though she feels naked without armor.

Cecil dons his butler uniform, and they head up to the Black Swan. Heidi is seated in a dark corner. Hildegard sits down. They talk.

Hildegard tries to convince Heidi to work with the law, but Heidi doesn’t trust her. She asks Hildegard to leave her alone until this job is done, and she will disappear – but Hildegard says she can’t let a rogue killer stay at Eisenkrone, not even if she promises she’s bettered herself. However, Hildegard promises her that if she comes along willingly, she’ll do everything in her power to build a case against the von Richthofens, using Heidi as a key witness.

Heidi says she doesn’t trust the police, and that she’d probably end up getting killed in jail. There’s no deal – she won’t go peacefully to a holding cell and do this according to protocol. She’s only willing to make deals under the table.

Hildegard springs a trap – Yvain throws a precision knife to try to pin Heidi’s clothes to the table. Apparently, she’s spent the day asking the help of assassin students. Cecil shifts the table ever so slightly, making Yvain’s attack miss.

Cecil tries to persuade Hildegard that she shouldn’t resign. Hildegard refuses. If Cecil doesn’t trust her to handle a criminal, why should anyone? Especially since she didn’t earn her position. She storms out, leaving Cecil distraught…